Veteran benefits in Merrimack County, New Hampshire
- Benefits you can claim here
- 31
- Property tax rate
- 1.92
- effective rate, ACS 2023 five-year
- Tax credits set by town vote, up to $4,000 for total disability, typical home
- $0
- a year at this county rate
- Veterans in this county
- 10,118
- US Department of Veterans Affairs VetPop2023 county model, as of 9/30/2025
What to do, in Merrimack County
The process is the same across New Hampshire for the statewide records. Only the office and the tax rate change.
Find what applies to you
31 benefits reach Merrimack County. Browse them below.
Check whether you qualify
Open any benefit and answer a few questions about that one specifically.
Get your proof
A VA Benefit Summary Letter from VA.gov covers most of them, in about two minutes.
File with Merrimack County
Form DR-501 to the Property Appraiser before March 1. File even without your letter.
How much is a property tax exemption worth in Merrimack County?
The rate shown is the county's effective property tax rate - aggregate taxes actually paid divided by aggregate home value, from the Census ACS 2023 five-year file. Every overlapping levy, credit and cap is already inside it, which makes it the honest basis for sizing an exemption's dollar value.
These are example savings for a typical home in this county, not an estimate of your own bill. Your actual saving depends on your assessed value, your taxing districts, and how this exemption interacts with any others you hold.
| Effective rate | what homeowners here actually paid |
|---|---|
| Basis | ACS 2023 five-year aggregates |
| Tax credits set by town vote, up to $4,000 for total disability (RSA 72:28; RSA 72:35) | about $0 a year against the county rate |
| Total exemption (RSA 72:28; RSA 72:35) | the entire bill — about $4,800 a year against the county rate on a typical $250,000 value, and more once your other taxing units are added |
| Where to file | Merrimack County Town assessing office |
| Deadline | April 15, every year |
Which document does the Merrimack County Town assessing office accept?
Statute sets the floor; the office picks the paperwork.
Easiest · VA Benefit Summary Letter
Sign in at VA.gov, choose Download VA Letters, then Benefit Summary — Veteran Benefits.
All 31 benefits you can claim in Merrimack County
All 10 New Hampshire counties get the same statewide law.
vehicles(5)
Gold Star Mothers' Plates — the Plate Fee Waived
New Hampshire issues gold star number plates with NO NUMBER PLATE FEES. Regular registration fees still apply, so this is a waiver of the plate charge rather than of the whole bill. The vehicle may be owned directly by the eligible person or through their TRUST, which is a small provision that matters for older families who have moved assets into one. This record sits alongside New Hampshire's existing Gold Star family decal; they are separate things.
Gold star number plates with no plate fee
Veteran Plates for $4 — and a General Discharge Is Enough
New Hampshire issues special veteran number plates in place of the standard ones to a veteran with a GENERAL DISCHARGE UNDER HONORABLE CONDITIONS OR BETTER. That is a lower bar than most plate programmes, which ask for an honorable discharge outright. Allied WWII veterans with an honorable discharge qualify too. The cost is the regular registration fee plus $4 per plate under RSA 261:75. The plates are NON-TRANSFERABLE, so they do not move with you to a different vehicle.
Veteran number plates for the regular registration fee plus $4 per plate
Disabled Veteran Plate Free at 100% P&T — Plus Free Local Parking
An honorably discharged veteran totally and permanently disabled from service gets one disabled veteran plate at no charge — and a vehicle bearing the plate with the accessibility symbol parks free in any city or town while the veteran controls it.
One disabled veteran plate at no charge; free municipal parking with the accessibility-symbol plate
Four Motor Vehicle Fee Exemptions, and Free Parking With the Plate
No driver licence fee for a veteran who is an amputee or paraplegic with a federally supplied vehicle, or who is rated permanently and totally disabled. No registration fee for a totally blind veteran, for an amputee or paraplegic veteran, or for a former prisoner of war. And a disabled veteran plate carrying the accessibility symbol parks free in any city or town.
No driver licence fee and no vehicle registration fee on the qualifying grounds, plus free parking time in any city or town with a disabled veteran plate bearing the accessibility symbol
Gold Star Family — a $10 Decal for Everyone, and a Free Plate for Mothers
New Hampshire has both. RSA 261-C:3-a supports a Gold Star Family decal, issued by the veterans division for $10 which buys two, applied to the state's multi-use decal number plate. RSA 261:87-c separately provides gold star NUMBER PLATES to the mothers and stepmothers of service members killed on duty, with no number plate fees. The decal reaches the wider Gold Star family; the plate is for mothers and stepmothers.
$10 for two Gold Star Family decals — or, for a mother or stepmother, a gold star number plate with no plate fees
property tax(4)
The All Veterans' Credit — No Wartime Service Required, but Your Town Has to Have Voted for It
RSA 72:28-b lets a New Hampshire town give the same property tax credit to ANY resident veteran with 90 or more days of active service — no wartime period needed. Qualifying National Guard and reserve training counts, and someone still serving qualifies. The amount matches whatever the municipality has adopted under RSA 72:28, up to $750 a year, and towns are allowed a three-year phase-in. Two conditions: THE TOWN MUST HAVE ADOPTED IT, and you must not already be eligible for the RSA 72:28 or RSA 72:35 credit. Ask your town — adoption is not universal.
The same amount your town has adopted under RSA 72:28 — up to $750 a year
The Surviving Spouse Credit — $700 by Statute, up to $2,000 If the Town Votes It
RSA 72:29-a gives a surviving spouse a credit of $700 a year against real and personal property taxes, and a municipality may adopt any amount from $701 up to $2,000 under RSA 72:27-a. The credit applies to property in the municipality where the surviving spouse RESIDES, so a move to a more generous town changes what you get. The statutory conditions on which deaths qualify are in the statute itself — confirm them with your town rather than assuming, because they are narrower than the credit's name suggests.
$700 a year, or up to $2,000 where the town has voted a higher amount
A Specially Adapted Homestead Pays No Tax At All — and No Town Vote Is Needed
RSA 72:36-a exempts a specially adapted homestead from ALL taxation. It is a MANDATORY STATEWIDE STATUTE, not a local option — unlike most New Hampshire veterans relief, your town does not get to decide. It covers a veteran who is 100% permanently and totally disabled, a service-connected double amputee or paraplegic, or blind with visual acuity of 5/200 or less, where the home was specially adapted with VA assistance (SAH or SHA) or ACQUIRED WITH THE PROCEEDS OF SELLING SUCH A HOME. That last clause carries the exemption to a second house.
The homestead exempt from ALL taxation
Town-Voted Credits, Up to $5,000
New Hampshire's credits are town-voted: up to $750 for wartime service, and for service-connected total disability a standard credit of $700 which a town may vote up to $5,000 — the same veteran is worth different money in different towns. A surviving spouse is covered under the same sections. The All Veterans' Credit and the combat service credit are alternatives to the wartime credit, not additions to it.
A tax credit of up to $5,000 a year at total disability, set by town vote
licenses & fees(4)
Practise While You Finish Qualifying — a 180-Day Temporary Licence, Processed in 30 Days
RSA 310:16 requires the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification to issue a TEMPORARY LICENCE OF NOT LESS THAN 180 DAYS — extendable once by another 180 — to an armed forces member holding a current unencumbered out-of-state licence, so work can continue while completing New Hampshire's requirements. Processing is within 30 DAYS of application, or 14 days where a criminal background check is required. Separately, OPLC rules must credit commensurate military education, training and service toward licensure. The combination is what matters: the income continues while the paperwork catches up.
A temporary licence of at least 180 days while you complete New Hampshire's requirements
The Peddler's Licence Fee, Waived for a Disabled Veteran and Their Spouse
A service-connected disabled veteran, and their unremarried spouse, may be exempt from the fee for a peddler's licence. It is a small provision with an unusual reach — it is aimed at someone trading for themselves rather than at someone taking a job.
Exemption from the peddler's licence fee for a service-connected disabled veteran and their unremarried spouse
Public Records, Free, When the Claim Needs Them
Copies of public records are provided free when the federal veterans department needs them to determine eligibility for benefits. It is one line in the statute and it covers the paper trail a claim actually runs on — the certificates, the filings, the records a claimant would otherwise be quietly paying for one at a time.
No charge for copies of public records needed by the federal veterans department to determine eligibility for benefits
The Veteran Indicator — Free at Renewal, $3 If You Cannot Wait
An honorably discharged veteran may have a veteran indicator placed on a driver licence, commercial licence or non-driver ID. Added during a renewal it costs nothing. Added outside the renewal period it costs $3 for the replacement card — a small sum, and the sort of detail that decides whether a trip is worth making today.
Veteran indicator on a driver licence, commercial licence or non-driver ID — no extra cost at renewal, $3 for a replacement card outside the renewal period
other(6)
No Tax on Any Personal Income — I&D Tax Repealed
The state taxes no wages and, since the Interest & Dividends Tax repeal took effect for periods beginning after 31 December 2024, no interest or dividend income either. Military retirement pay was never taxed and there is no state return to file.
No state tax on wages, pensions, military retirement, interest or dividends
State Veterans Cemetery at Boscawen — Residency Not Required
A veteran discharged under honorable conditions — and eligible dependents — may be buried at the State Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen, and state residency is not a requirement. Indigent veterans are buried at the expense of the municipality where they died.
No fee for an eligible veteran; $450 for an eligible dependent — and $1,050 for a Selected Reserve veteran or dependent who is not a resident of this state
Your Town Must Support You — RSA 165:5, and the Burial That Goes With It
There is no state veterans emergency fund here. Instead the statute places a duty on the town or city where you live: a war veteran and their dependent family who are unable to support themselves shall be supported at public expense. A companion provision has the municipality where a veteran died bury them where they were indigent.
Support at public expense from the town or city where you live, for a war veteran and dependent family unable to support themselves
Three $100 War Bonuses — and the One That Another State Can Cancel
A $100 bonus for Vietnam-era service, $100 for the Persian Gulf period, and $100 for the Global War on Terrorism. Each requires that you were a bona fide resident of this state when you entered service. The Persian Gulf bonus carries a trap: having been paid the equivalent bonus by another state disqualifies you here.
$100 for Vietnam-era service, $100 for the Persian Gulf period, $100 for the Global War on Terrorism
Six Veterans Tracks — and You Must Live AND Have Offended in the Same County
There are six veterans tracks in the courts here — special dockets for cases involving veterans and service members, particularly those with service-related illnesses. The gate almost nobody mentions is geographic and doubled: the department states that a defendant must reside in the county where the programme is offered AND have committed the offence in that county, and that the same provisions apply to the veterans dockets as to the drug courts. Completion can mean criminal charges dismissed or annulled.
Six veterans tracks, with a residence-and-offence-in-the-same-county gate, and charges that may be dismissed or annulled on completion
Caregiver Respite Exists — a State Veteran-Directed Programme Does Not
The state family caregiver programme funds respite, counselling, training, chore services, assistive equipment, home modifications and transport for eligible full-time caregivers. It is not veteran-specific, and the aging network’s own page for veterans routes them to the federal department, the Red Cross and a charity rather than to any state veteran-directed care programme. One number, 1-866-634-9412, reaches all of it.
Respite, counselling, caregiver training, and for some caregivers chore services, assistive equipment, home modifications and transport
recreation(3)
Perpetual Licence at 100% — Ten Dollars, Once, Forever
A resident veteran totally and permanently disabled from service gets a perpetual fishing or combination hunting-and-fishing (and/or archery) licence for a one-time $10 administrative fee — and residents of the two neighbouring reciprocal states may apply under the same 100% permanent bar.
Perpetual fishing / combination hunting-and-fishing / archery licence — $10 once
Half-Price Lifetime at 80–99% — After Two Years at That Rating
A resident veteran at least 80% but not 100% permanently disabled from service for MORE THAN TWO YEARS buys the lifetime fishing, hunting or combination licence at half the lifetime rate. Short of the two years, the department will review the case on request.
Lifetime licence at 50% of the age-based lifetime rate (RSA 214:9-c)
State Park Day Use Free — At ANY Service-Connected Rating
A resident veteran with any VA service-connected disability rating — 10% is enough — pays no day-use admission at state parks. The disabled veteran plate or a VA letter is proof. Ski lifts, campgrounds and food service still charge.
Day-use admission free at state parks, any service-connected rating
employment(4)
Hiring Preference in Public Departments — Spouses Included
Veterans — and unremarried surviving spouses, and spouses of disabled veterans — receive preference in public departments and public works of the state and its local units, with named statutory preferences at several state institutions besides.
Preference in public departments and public works, state and local; spouse classes included
State Employees — 15 Days Paid Military Leave, Then 30 More at Partial Pay
A state employee who serves in a reserve component of the federal or state forces gets up to 15 days of leave with pay in a training year for drill, training or other temporary duty. An employee who uses all 15 is then entitled to up to 30 further days at partial pay. The second tier is the part almost nobody claims.
Up to 15 days of paid military leave in a training year, plus up to 30 further days at partial pay for an employee who has used the 15
Your Town Job Back — But You Have Ninety Days to Ask
A veteran who worked for a town, a city or another political subdivision before active military service is reemployed in the position previously held, on application. The trap is the clock: the department states the application must be made within NINETY DAYS after discharge from active military service. Miss it and the statutory route is gone.
Reemployment by a town or other political subdivision in the previously held position, on application made within 90 days of discharge from active military service
First in the Queue for Publicly Funded Training
A qualified veteran is granted priority in obtaining training funded in whole or in part by the federal government or by this state. Separately, veterans and eligible spouses get priority of service at state employment offices for every workforce programme funded by the federal labour department — which in practice means being served earlier, or being served instead of someone else where places are limited.
Statutory priority for training funded in whole or part by the federal government or the state, and priority of service across federally funded state workforce programmes for veterans and eligible spouses
education(3)
Free Tuition for Veterans' Children — Three Routes, Three Statutes
A child of a veteran who is totally and permanently disabled from service attends the university system tuition-free (RSA 187-A:20). Children of members killed in wartime service — or who died of a service-connected disability — get free tuition plus up to $2,500 a year for room, board and books (RSA 193:19-21). Children of the missing and captured attend the community colleges free (RSA 188-F:15).
University-system tuition free for the child; the survivor routes add up to $2,500/yr for living costs
Guard Tuition — Free, Space Available, and Transferable to a Spouse
A serving Guard member may take courses tuition-free at the state-supported postsecondary institutions on a space-available basis. The provision most members do not know: after an initial obligation of at least six years, the community college waiver can be transferred to a spouse — and handed back later.
Tuition-free courses on a space-available basis at the state-supported postsecondary institutions; the community college waiver is transferable to a spouse after an initial obligation of at least six years
The Compact That Stops a Move Costing Your Child a Year
This state is in the interstate compact on educational opportunity for military children. It exists to remove the specific ways a mid-year move damages a child: records that arrive too late to enrol, entrance and age rules that differ across a state line, attendance and grading variations that cost placement, missed try-outs, and graduation requirements that do not line up. It has administrative rules behind it and it is enforceable.
Compact protections for a military child on transfer: timely enrolment despite record transfer delays, placement not disadvantaged by scheduling or grading differences, eligibility for programmes and extracurricular activities, and on-time graduation
Filing in Merrimack County
- Office
- Merrimack County Property Appraiser
- Form
- DR-501 for most exemptions; DR-501DV for the combat-related discount; DR-501M for a deployment exemption.
- Deadline
- March 1, every year. Missing it costs the whole tax year — there is no late route back in.
Free help in Merrimack County
Merrimack County has a County Veteran Service Officer, and their help is free. Go to them for anything touching a federal VA disability claim.
Nobody should charge you to claim the benefits on this page. Unaccredited operators charging fees for VA claims are a real and growing problem.
Common questions about Merrimack County veteran benefits
- What can I claim here?
- The New Hampshire statewide records apply in every county. We have not researched county-level programmes here, so this page shows state law and complete geography rather than a local layer.
- What is it worth in this county?
- Dollar figures use the county's EFFECTIVE property tax rate - what homeowners there actually paid per dollar of home value, from the Census ACS 2023 five-year file. It is an estimate for sizing a saving; the levy table on your own bill governs.
- Where do I file for a veteran property tax exemption in Merrimack County?
- File with your County assessor. The form and deadline are on each benefit record.
- What document does the Merrimack County Town assessing office accept as proof?
- The statute sets what must be proved. An office may tell you which document it prefers, but it may not add a requirement the statute does not contain. We have not researched per-county document quirks in New Hampshire.
Other counties
This is an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. Veterans Alliance is privately owned and is not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Geography from the US Census; veteran population from the VA VetPop2023 county model.